Arab 'Cut Off Sidelock' of Hareidi Jew

Details of incident on bus near Beitar Illit are still not clear. The Arab drew a knife and threatened the driver, then ran.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 10/20/2013, 8:52 PM

Hareidi man, sidelock cut off

Flash 90

A Palestinian Authority Arab drew a knife and threatened the Israeli driver of a bus at around 8:00 PM Sunday evening. No one was hurt in the incident, which took place near the Beitar Illit checkpoint, but the Flash 90 photo news agency says that the Arab cut off the sidelock of a hareidi Jew.

IDF forces are combing the area for the man, who got away.

An initial investigation indicated that a Palestinian Authority Arab boarded the bus in the Beit Shemesh area, in the direction of Beitar Illit. He asked the driver to let him get off the bus at a location that is not a legal bus stop, and the driver refused. At this point the Arab took out a knife and threatened the driver, who stopped the bus immediately and let him off. The Arab disembarked and ran away.

Israel's Channel Two news released CCTV footage from the bus which shows the attacker waving what appears to be a large knife at alarmed passengers, who scramble to escape.

A photo by Flash 90 shows a hareidi man holding a sidelock (peya) that was cut off. The photo is accompanied by a very short report that says the sidelock was cut off by the Arab passenger. This appears to indicate that the Arab did more than just threaten the driver, as reported by man media outlets.

A tractor attack was thwarted near Jerusalem on Thursday evening. In that attempted attack, a terrorist aged about 30 broke into an IDF base at A-Ram, north of the capital, driving a tractor. Soldiers fired on him and killed him.

The IDF continues to investigate the attack. Two brothers from the Palestinian Authority town of El-Bireh have reportedly been arrested as suspects.

On September 22, IDF soldier Gal (Gavriel) Kobi was killed by a terrorist sniper in Hevron.

Several days before this attack, IDF soldier Tomer Hazan was kidnapped and murdered by a PA Arab terrorist with whom he had worked in a restaurant in Bat Yam. The terrorist lured Hazan to Samaria, where he murdered him and disposed of his body.